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Last week, from Tuesday to Thursday, marine stakeholders of the Falkland Islands gathered for a workshop on Marine Spatial Planning (MSP). This workshop was part of the 2-year project funded by Darwin Pus, managed by SAERI. The aim of the project is to initiate the process of MSP for the Islands by preparing data, tools and analyses, and working towards a framework for MSP in the Falkland Islands. The results will inform the Falkland Islands Government and its stakeholders on how to implement MSP and make recommendations on priority zones for management. This workshop was the third and last workshop of the project that will end in July 2016. In December 2015, the MSP team submitted a paper to the Executive Council summarising the benefits that MSP could bring the islands. ExCo has agreed to the production of an MSP Plan, subject to a fine-scale framework. The workshop provided the platform for discussion to define this fine scale framework with local stakeholders and a couple of international experts. An MSP Plan is a strategic coordinated plan for regulating, managing and protecting the marine environment that addresses the multiple, cumulative and potentially conflicting uses of the sea, current and future, and aim to fulfill economic, ecological and social objectives.

Jude and Michael presenting the results of their breakout group.

Workshop participants included representatives from marine industries (fishing, oil, shipping), government departments (EPD, Minerals, Fisheries, Marine and Biosecurity officers), MLAs, Falklands Conservation, Royal Navy, Wildlife Conservation Society, and recreational activities (Yacht Club, diving), SAERI, as well as three international delegates from Scotland, the shetland Islands and Ascension Island.The workshop consisted of brief presentations to show all the maps produced depicting human activities at sea and areas used by wildlife, and of cultural values (check out the MSP webGIS to look at some of the maps), alternated with a series of sessions where participants worked on small exercises on MSP objectives and targets, shipping, conservation, Berkeley Sound management, interconnectivity between marine activities, people’s values and the environment, and MSP format, actors and roles. The participants provided great insights in the priority needs to ensure coordinated sustainable development of the islands’ maritime activities.

The HMS Clyde at sunrise in Port Stanley.

Commander Bill Dawson from the Royal Navy at MPA has been on the MSP project steering committee since its start and he had kindly offered to host one workshop day on board HMS Clyde to illustrate some maritime activities. The workshop participants therefore had the great opportunity to spend a whole day on board last Thursday, partly in the officers’ mess for work sessions and the rest of the time on the deck during a visit in Berkeley Sound where they witnessed ships bunkering in the same area as Sei whales foraging and vessel traffic. The crew were great hosts and made this day very useful and memorable for the workshop.

The workshop was a great success, with engaged and interested participants, and some great outcomes to help design what MSP should look like in the Falkland Islands. Some of the main outcomes in regard to MSP were a clear need for improve shipping management, of vessels visiting the islands but also in particular, transiting through the Falklands’ waters. Of particular importance was the area around the Jason Islands with a shipping route on the west of this archipelago. Identifying other areas vulnerable to shipping risks, as well as for human safety (eg. cruise ship traffic) was also found a priority. MSP was overall seen as a great tool to improve safety at sea and emergency responses, as well as coordinate management of maritime activities, now and for the future. Rachel Shucksmith from the Shetland Islands’ MSP team at the University of Highlands and Islands was an invited speaker at the workshop. She also gave a very informative and exciting public talk on the Tuesday evening, to a packed room, about the Shetlands and how they use MSP to ensure sustainable maritime development there. For more info on the Falklands’ MSP project, check out the MSP webpage.

Rachel Shucksmith from the University of Highlands and Islands giving a public presentation on the Shetland Islands’ marine life and local management in Stanley on 5 April.

Thanks to all the participants for their enthousiasm, and to Sammy for her brilliant logistic assistance and Emma for all the note-taking!

When the IMS-GIS data centre started its activities in October 2013, data collected by individuals or groups working in the South Atlantic UKOTs were rarely documented. Data management was a concept that was considered as necessary, but it was not realised or implemented. As a consequence, it was common to have duplicated data or to lose data because of lack of proper backup procedures. The main priority of the data centre was, therefore, to start documenting data using standard metadata. As such, having these standards ensures that the documentation could be transferable to other systems, organisations and individuals.

After 2 years of activity, the online metadata catalogue is populated with more than 630 records describing data from Ascension Island, Saint Helena and the Falkland Islands. The achievement was possible thanks to the work of the data managers on the three islands and all the stakeholders involved in the process.

One of the reasons for documenting data through the standard metadata form is so that data can be discovered in an easier and quicker way. It also ensures data longevity and increases awareness of the data that can bring opportunities for collaborative works.

Antoine Amphoux & Titouan Chapouly are two master students at the Swiss Federal Institute of technology of Lausanne. They discovered the data through the online metadata catalogue, approached the data managers of the islands, used the data request form to obtain the data and sent back their final result, which is their Master thesis. The document has the taste of victory for the data managers as is the tangible evidence that the effort, put into harvesting metadata and persuading people that metadata are essential part of the data, it is worth.

Antoine & Titouan were asked few questions after sending their thesis entitled “South Atlantic Islands. The resilience of isolated territories: toward an architecture of imported vernacular”.

Q: Why did you decide to embark a research project on the South Atlantic islands?

A: One of the starting points in our choice of this research topic lies in the observation of territories and human settlements on it. Indeed, societies have been created at an increasing pace, on wider and larger territories following an exponential and global culture development. By doing so, societies have created buildings, landscapes and machines that deny collective reality and natural conditions.

In opposition of this spread, Islands territories are enclosed geographical spaces where human expansion is very limited. And the particular case of the South Atlantic Ocean islands question this logic of goods, materials and culture model importation due to their radical remoteness. Thus, if we consider this increasing development as a vehicular culture, what becomes a more specific culture, a vernacular culture that emerges from a place?

Through these first observations, we decided to launch this project, first, curious about the strong persistence of the islander settlements, then strongly interested in very particular aesthetic expression of these cultures.

Q: What is in brief the research thesis about?

Regarding this description, the three islands seem for us the ideal locations to explore the resilience of isolated territories and its related dichotomy of vernacular logic versus colonial logic.

Indeed as a spatial aesthetic, vernacular and colonial are usually represented as opposite concepts. The first emerging from the specificity of a place, as paradigm of local cultures intimately linked to their territories. The latter tied to foreign cultures, as an invasive system, vehicular of a modern world.

The thesis accepts that both might merge to create synergies in order to answer challenges of our time. However, reality is quite different, the colonization brought globalization where any local culture tends to be standardized by the logic of mass production. However, because of remoteness and extreme conditions, we try to understand how the three islands developed through time different degrees of hybrid cultures linked to both vernacular and colonial architectures.

Q: How useful to your project was the South Atlantic metadata catalogue online?

The condition of remoteness of the three islands not only produces economical challenges, but also makes them, to a certain point, isolated from a global data network. We can find metadata on most of the territories on Earth, but the South Atlantic islands become quite challenging to study as soon as you try to grasp details, or specific entities in order to understand the geography.

The Metadata catalogue in parallel of multiple media, allowed us to fulfill our desire to look the territory and its complexity. Through this approach, geographical maps, raw data but also pictures comparisons and aesthetic references allowed us to have a better understanding of the islands.

Q: How easy was to obtain the data through the data request form?

A: Through our search, we easily found the access to the Metadata catalogue, and, in the same way, the data request was quick to find in the description of the website.

Q: Were the data managers helpful and did they reply to you promptly?

A: The exchanged mails were essential in our right use of the data. Actually, we already worked with metadata and .shp .xml files through previous work in university but it’s always difficult to choose precisely the data. Indeed, descriptions in the catalogue and advice from the three GIS managers were helpful in the use of the different formats.

We were also surprised to see the efficient communication and teamwork between the three GIS managers while asking different data files, and it sometimes allowed us to not duplicate the requests about the same files.

Q: Are you planning to visit the territories you studied during your Masters?

A:The difficulty to reach the places is an essential fact. However, after these series of observations and analysis, our desire to visit the three islands increases even more.The new airport in Saint Helena is indeed a factor that potentially allows us to reach both Ascension Island and Saint Helena Island, but Tristan da Cunha remains remote as the long journey by boat has just a few places opened to visitors.

Moreover, our particular interest and the work we produced about Tristan da Cunha make this island a place we would like to visit. The University’s schedule don’t give us time to plan a visit before this summer, but we still plan to do it after the academic year as a continuity of our study. We’re actually looking for any support from scientific, architectural or governmental institutions. Indeed, our wish would be to present the final architectural project to the administrator of Tristan da Cunha and also share our ideas with the islanders.

Q: Is there anything you want to suggest to improve the accessibility to data?

A:The centralization of the data would be a fundamental point to set up regarding the large catalogue of metadata available. Currently, the requests have to be done and sent to the owner and manager of the data, and potentially, it would allow a considerable gain of time to send to a main system, or a common request file.

Although data from the Falkland Islands were requested and obtained, unfortunately the thesis did not include them. Antoine & Titouan explained that the climate condition and the size of Falklands are too different to compare it with Saint-Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha. Also, the geopolitical issues of the Falklands deserve to be treated in one full study. Perhaps in the future there will be another opportunity, nevertheless the work by the two master students proved that metadata and the online catalogue are valuable and the online catalogue is working and data request system can be improved further. Overall, for everybody in the South Atlantic UKOTs this is a great achievement after 2 years of hard work.

In a recent blog, it was revealed that the Falkland Islands, although remote, actually receive a considerable amount of marine traffic. More than a thousand different vessels (tankers, cargo ships, supply vessels, fishing boats, cruise liners, yachts etc) entered the Falklands Conservation zones from May 2014 to May2015.

Biosecurity is a set of precautions to reduce the risk of introducing or spreading invasive non-native species (NNS), and other harmful organisms such as diseases, in the wild. Biosecurity is a hot topic in the Falkland Islands because the characteristic of being remote does not exclude the risk of invasion from NNS that in such isolated islands and pristine environment can be very detrimental to the local habitats and their unique native species.

The Falkland Islands can be reached either by plane or boat. It means that in terms of biosecurity, introduction and spreading of invasive NNS can occur via both. The maps below show the connections from the rest of the world to the Falklands by air and by sea. It is evident that biosecurity control on ships is more crucial considering the annual number and the various locations from which the boats depart before reaching the Falklands, compared to the more regular and limited air connection.

One of the main biosecurity risks associated with boats is biofouling which is the colonisation, and the transport on the submerged surfaces of the boats, of unwanted organisms such as bacteria, barnacles and algae. These organisms travel on the ship hull and can be released and introduced in a new area where, as NNS, they may become invasive and damage the native marine environment or its resources. Ship biofouling is therefore a marine biosecurity risk that needs to be managed. Site monitoring in areas known to be at risk can also help detecting invasive NNS and remove or eradicate them before they spread.

It is therefore important for the Falkland Islands to identify the most susceptible areas of introduction of NNS. In the context of Marine Spatial Planning, GIS were used as analytical and mapping tool to provide useful information for biosecurity policies. Mapping areas at risk of invasive NNS from biofouling was a collaborative work between the GIS specialist (Dr iLaria Marengo) and the Marine Spatial Planning project leader (Dr Amélie Augé) at SAERI.

The shipping data were split by vessel category and were classified into groups with a high risk of introduction (from overseas) of NNS such as cargo ships, tankers, cruise ships and pleasure boats, or with a high risk of diffusion (within the islands) of NNS such as cruise ships, harbour, military and internal ferry. The risk of introduction and diffusion generated by each vessel category was scored according to the likeliness of biofouling, and the frequency of activities.

QGIS was used to conduct all the analyses and mapping. A Kernel density analysis was performed for each vessel category to map the density of boats for 5km cells within the territorial sea (12nm from shore) all around the islands. Density was multiplied by the number of different vessels occurring in the same area because variety, along with the quantity, of boats will have an impact in terms of risk of introduction of NNS. The resulting values were then multiplied by the risk scores. Finally, the maps for each vessel category were added to each other to create the final map of risk of introduction and diffusion of NNS in the Falkland Islands.

In parallel, a second GIS analysis was run to map areas with environmental features that would be sensitive to invasive NNS. The locations of breeding colonies of albatrosses, penguins, and pinnipeds were taken into account along with the distributions of kelp beds, Important Plant Areas, RAMSAR sites and tussac islands. The sensitivity of each environmental feature was mapped by creating buffers (ranging from 500m to 3 km) from the centre of the colonies or from the centre of the area. The areas of the buffers were attributed a value of 1, which corresponded to a high sensitivity score, so all the environmental variables were equally assessed as high in terms of sensitivity. The maps were added together to produce the overall environmental sensitivity map with values from 0 (low) to 1 (high).

The conclusive part of the GIS analyses was to highlight which environmentally sensitivite areas are most at risk to be affected by introduction of NNS due to biofouling. The resulting maps show that the area with the highest risk of introduction of NNS is Port Williams/Stanley Harbour. This did not come as a surprise because the Shallow Marine Survey Group has already detected some invasive NNS there. The areas of high risk of diffusions are the main touristic islands since they are well known sites of seabird and marine mammal colonies. Mare harbour stood out as a likely area at risk too.

The overall conclusion of this GIS analysis is that there are significant risks of introduction and diffusion of NNS, which may damage the pristine environment of the Falkland Islands. Some sites were highlighted as most at risk of direct introduction and should be surveyed, while biosecurity measures should be taken. Other sites at risk were identified from the diffusion process all around the islands. The results are preliminary and should be taken as initial findings. They are however already good indicators of where the biosecurity officer could target efforts, and provide good information for marine spatial planning. The analysis could be refined with more data and by taking into consideration other ways of introductions of NNS such as ballast water. More in-depth analyses of potential impacts of some NNS on inshore marine species should also be explored in the future.

The ocean around the Falkland Islands is very productive, hosts many marine species, and is still in excellent condition compared to most other parts of the world. The long-term economy of the Islands depends almost entirely on this prolific and healthy marine environment. Commercial fisheries and tourism are the two main current activities that, if managed sustainably and safely, will provide long-term economic security for the Islands. In comparison, oil exploitation will be a fixed-term economic benefit and is, by default, not sustainable because it relies on a non-renewable resource that will run out. New and expanding marine activities should therefore be managed co-ordinately and soundly to ensure fishing and tourism can still thrive along with potential new sustainable activities. Marine Spatial Planning (MSP) is the process of developing a strategic plan to manage marine activities and ensure that economic, environmental, and also cultural values are included in the decision process.

The easiest description for MSP is “land-use planning – for the sea”! Most people understand the need for land-use planning. For instance, it avoids someone building a house and realising 2 years later that, next to it, was the only suitable plot for a sewage treatment plant… Planning is all about looking in and thinking about the future. Keeping the marine environment healthy and safe is crucial for the long-term economy of the Falklands because it will keep providing fish and squids and habitats where they can reproduce and grow, but also because it will allow charismatic wildlife attracting tourists here to thrive. Though, it does not end here. An often-forgotten link to the marine environment is cultural. Watching the waves, walking on the coast with the kids or the dog, admiring a sunset over the ocean, and visiting a historical wreck are examples of personal enjoyment the sea can bring to us. The beautiful areas that you cherish also require management to ensure that they are still there for future generations and stay clean. Finally, another benefit provided by efficient MSP is increased marine safety because the aim of MSP is, overall, to decrease the risks of maritime accidents by managing where things happen. Imagine if a boat grounded next to your favourite spot, threatening the life of the crew on board, while having oil and rubbish cover the coast. Would you have thought that asking that boat to travel only a few kms further from the coast (taking that boat may be an extra 30 mins) would have been too much then? Well, this is exactly why MSP is so important, because it provides the tools to FIG to think of future risks and act now to manage them so that no one has to be sorry in the future.

The figure illustrates the intricate links between the marine environment and economic and cultural values of the Falkland Islands..

The Falkland Islands currently have no MSP in place at the exception of temporary fishing closure areas. With an increasing level of human activities in the ocean, in particular for oil exploration, but also for shipping traffic for instance, the need to identify areas sensitive to safety and environmental risks has been wisely identified as a priority by the current government. The Islands Plan 2014-18 states as an action to “Implement appropriate […] marine spatial planning frameworks to ensure the preservation and management of […] marine environments of the Falkland Islands”. In July 2014, a 2-year project funded by Darwin Plus (a UK Government grant scheme for the UKOTs) was initiated at SAERI to produce scientific data and a best-practice framework needed for FIG to implement an MSP process here. The project webpage contains more details and reports you can download: http://south-atlantic-research.org/research/current-research/marine-spatial-planning. The project is conducted with a strong stakeholder engagement that has included public consultation and local workshops, meetings with MLAs and FIG staff, and a steering committee with local stakeholder representatives. The spatial data gathered and mapped so far are, for example, shipping traffic, military exercise areas, pleasure boating areas, and anchoring areas. Wildlife data are also gathered and analysed. Areas of potential conflicts are then identified by overlapping the spatial datasets, which can reveal where risks exist, for safety and/or environmental damage. All data, results of analyses and recommendations will be provided to FIG that will then decide what MSP will look like in the Falklands. SAERI provides objective scientific tools to FIG to help them make appropriate decisions for a sustainable future and ensure long-term economic wealth and clean enjoyable marine and coastal environments of the Islands.

The figure shows hourly locations of all ships and boats (red dots) around the Falkland Islands over one year (May 2014 to May 2015). During that period, over 1,500 different boats used the Falklands’ marine area, including 119 oil tankers. The data come from the AIS system run by Sure in Stanley (thanks to Mark Street for providing the raw data from this system).

For more information, questions or interest in being involved in MSP in the Falkland Islands, Dr Augé can be contacted at SAERI by phone 27374 or email AAuge@env.institute.ac.fk.

Written by Dr Amélie Augé, spatial ecologist at SAERI, leading researcher and manager of the 2-year Darwin Plus-funded project ‘Marine Spatial Planning for the Falkland Islands’. This article was published in the Penguin News on 9 October 2015, starting an MSP series of 4 articles.

The South Georgia Future Science team embarked on the second leg of their trip by flying to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on February 18th. Prof. Azizan Abu Samah, Director of the National Centre for Antarctic Research (NCAR) and numerous scientists from NARC and other local institutes hosted the South Georgia Future Science team for detailed discussion on the NARC science strategy and how South Georgia may feature within it. A primary focus of the NARC Antarctic programme is the ‘connectivity between the poles and the tropics’, a theme which spans a number of disciplines from atmospheric and oceanic circulation to latitudinal gradients in biodiversity and ecosystem tolerances to environmental change. With ongoing projects at Rothera Station, Antarctic Peninsula and Signy, South Orkneys, complementary studies at South Georgia would extend this latitudinal transect into the Subantarctic, a ‘stepping stone’ between the poles and tropics. We are hopeful that South Georgia will feature in NARC’s future strategy.

The last polar research institute that the South Georgia Future Science team visited in Asia was the National Centre for Antarctic and Ocean Research (NCAOR) in Goa, India. Director Dr. Rajan and a number of NCAOR scientists spent the day discussing NCAOR’s science strategy and the opportunities that South Georgia presented to them. NCAOR research spans the three poles, the Arctic, Antarctic and the Himalayas, as well as Indian Ocean. Atmospheric and cryospheric sciences, in addition to paleoclimate, microbiology and remote sensing feature high within the NCAOR polar science strategy. Dr. Rajan expressed a keen interest to explore the possibility of NCAOR to work within an international consortium on South Georgia. In this idealised model each institute can provide their niche expertise within a co-ordinated framework ensuring optimal utilisation of resources, logistics and expertise and generation of the best possible science. This concept is something that the South Georgia Future Science team are keen to promote and will be discussing further with representatives from each institute at a workshop in the Falkland Islands in August 2015.

Thank you again to both NARC and NCAOR for their support for the South Georgia Future Science project.

We would also like to take this opportunity to thank the UK Science and Innovation Network for co-ordinating our meetings throughout this trip. Special thanks go to Mr. Gareth Davies in Korea, Ms. Elizabeth Hogben in Japan and Dr. Rita Sharma in India.

Paul, John and Vicky are now back home from their three week trip and are busy planning their next meetings at polar research institutes within Europe and North America.

Our Pan-American Science Delegation visit to the Falkland Islands is over now, but I leave with many incredible vistas imprinted on my mind, a new cohort of scientific colleagues and potential collaborators, and many ideas about scientific research opportunities in the area. The people we met in town, including business and local government officials were so friendly and welcoming, and were universally concerned about protecting and managing their resources and unique ecosystems in a sustainable fashion. It was refreshing to see a society that is forward thinking on this theme, especially given the relatively pristine condition of the environment there. Sadly, people the world over frequently only start to pay attention when they witness deterioration or experience personal impacts. Scientists at the South Atlantic Environmental Research Institute are already conducting excellent research on a wide variety of very important topics to the area. Yet there are many opportunities for collaborative research that can pull in complementary expertise to bear on new questions. Researchers at my home institution, the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution include many who are engaged in studies of physical, chemical and biological oceanography, including fisheries, and of impacts of climate change on marine ecosystems worldwide. Climate change is significantly impacting our polar regions, and these changes have impacts that propagate to subpolar regions in the form of altered weather, ocean currents, temperature, etc. As a marine microbiologist I am particularly keen to collaborate with scientists at SAERI to collect data on impacts of these alterations to major biogeochemical cycles where microorganisms have center stage. Any major shifts in microbial communities and/or processes carried out by these communities can affect the many important fisheries in the region of the Falklands. We envision a very international collaborative study of atmospheric and marine processes involving SAERI, the British Antarctic Survey, and several US and South American institutions.

Interspersed among the many intense and stimulating scientific discussions this past week were amazing field trips to see some of the local treasures; including Elephant Seals, nesting Shearwaters by the gazillions, and of course, penguins. I was enthralled by the penguins, particularly a small cluster of King Penguins who approached me on a beach as I sat still. It was clearly a mutual inspection, the outcome of which was universal agreement that clearly, they were better dressed. Another highlight for me was gazing through the microscope at interesting protozoa zipping around in a water sample I collected from an Elephant Seal wallow. The water was the color and consistency of soy sauce (probably a cocktail of peat, seawater and Elephant Seal feces). A microbiologist is easily amused.

Thank you to all the folks who made this past week possible. Now we all need to work hard to get funding for our research ideas!

Our Land Rovers lumbered slowly along the heathland like a convoy of awkward insects. We were heading to the penguin colony at Volunteer Point on the eve of the Falkland Islands Science Symposium. Recent rains had turned the track – rough at best – into a sodden mess. As one and then another of our eight vehicles ran into trouble, the others would fan out to avoid the same fate, resembling ants that have lost their pheromone track. All in all it was a six-hour round trip through rain and hail, and three vehicles had to be pulled out of precarious positions. The jarring drive made my ears ring well into the night. I remarked afterward that it was about the hardest place I’d ever tried to get to. This was greeted with surprise by my fellow delegates. “But I’m a social scientist, so you have to take that in context,” I said. My field destinations can usually be reached in a hatchback. Despite my discomfort, I was more than glad we had made the effort to reach the Point. Three species of penguin, each with its own personality, charmed us for hours.

Photo credit: Carlos Andrade

Sheep wandered among the penguins at times, reminding us that Volunteer Point was part of a working farm. Several of the agricultural experts I met later in the week felt that the penguins played an important role in keeping farms viable. The ranching style of farming traditionally used in the Falkland Islands has resulted in substantial vegetation change. Most of the giant tussac grass that once fringed the islands is gone. Patches of it persist in ungrazed outer islands and fenced minefields left over from the Falklands War. In its place are coastal paddocks that are deemed to have the best grasses for grazing, and hence are used for lambing. The health of these fields is in large part thanks to penguin poop. Guano rich in fish remnants returns critical nutrients to the soil, and sheep help distribute it.

Photo credit: Steve Campana

I have been one of the Pan-American delegates to this Symposium, representing the social sciences. My research often examines how people respond to local landscapes and how that affects resource decisions. My inspiration comes from talking to local people in places experiencing or facing change. This week I have spoken to leaders of legislation, policy and industry; cabbies and tour operators; long-time Islanders and members of a diverse network of contract workers with a cacophony of Commonwealth accents. These conversations have suggested many exciting research opportunities. Like Volunteer Point, it takes some effort to get to the Falkland Islands. But the destination – and its future – are worth it.

I was seduced! And it wasn’t just me. The entire scientific delegation to the Falklands was seduced at one time or another while visiting. No – it wasn’t because of the open and charming people who lived here and welcomed us at every event. Nor was it because of the superb meals (and wine!) with which we were plied at every dinner. It wasn’t even because of the field trips to photograph penguins, or seals, or collect fossils, in wonderful outdoor settings. Rather, this was a totally non-subtle, full-on, in your face seduction that took advantage of a scientist’s greatest weakness. I’m talking of course about our unstoppable excitement when faced with new scientific challenges and possibilities. So the decision by SAERI, the Falkland Islands and the British government to fly us all down here to woo us with scientific seductions was a brilliant move. I suspect that all of the scientists in the delegation are already fully engaged in other projects back home and in other countries. So few of us expected to take on any new projects when we accepted the invitation to come to the Falklands; we just couldn’t resist the invitation to see a new part of the world. But once here, and once confronted with new scientific possibilities, we were hooked. Most of us are now committed to collaborate with SAERI on various projects. Scientists are so naïve!

I do scientific research on fish and shark populations in Canada and Iceland, where the environmental conditions are very similar to those in the Falklands. So to a Canadian scientist, it is fascinating to see how life has evolved under Canadian temperatures in a location on the other side of the world. One thing that piqued my interest was the occasional capture of porbeagle sharks in the waters around the Falklands. Porbeagle sharks, which are a smaller relative of the great white shark, are a common fishing target in the waters off of eastern Canada, where the conditions are very similar to those here. So why aren’t there more porbeagles here? After asking around, I found out that none of the fishermen here use the pelagic longline gear and large hooks that would be suited for catching porbeagles. So it could be that porbeagles are actually quite common in Falkland waters. And if so, I wonder if they behave, live and grow in the same way that those in the North Atlantic do. How interesting! As I said earlier, I’ve been seduced!

Last Saturday (11th October) was the first National Clean Up Day organised by the Falkland Islands Government. Over one hundred people took part in a morning of picking rubbish all around Stanley. Amongst them were five members of SAERI, armed with pretty yellow and blue gloves and large bags, who cleaned up a stretch of 1km of road on the edge of Stanley. Megan, David, Emily, iLaria and Amélie filed up an entire skip in a less than inclement weather (think blizzard really!). But they had a lot of fun nonetheless and Stanley is now a nicer place to walk around. In all, it is estimated that around 40 cubic metres of rubbish were removed by all the volunteers on the day.

Amélie Augé, Megan Tierney and iLaria Marengo with the skip that their hard work helped to fill.

Rubbish is not just an offence to the eyes of people walking or driving around. It can also have major impacts on wildlife. Animals, in particular seabirds such as albatross, ingest rubbish floating on the water thinking they are pieces of food. Because they cannot digest it, their stomach filled up with rubbish, can no longer feed and sadly die. With the windy weather of the Falkland Islands, obviously any rubbish let loose will quickly end up in the sea. With such an amazing array of marine wildlife around the Falkland Islands, we certainly do not want this to happen. Ensuring that rubbish are securely contained and not thrown is important. Hopefully with some simple measures less rubbish will fly free around Stanley.

So let’s not litter and do pick up rubbish (in particular if you are on a beach: the last chance to get them before they get to the sea!).

From 7th – 11th July, the annual farmers’ week took place in Stanley at the Town Hall, and SAERI staff took the opportunity to present the current research projects.

The role of landowners in the Falkland Islands is particularly important when considering the type of environmental studies undertaken by an institution such as SAERI; local knowledge, access and assistance are all vital to the success of this work.

On Monday 7th Dr Debs Davidson and Dr Megan Tierney presented their works respectively in inshore fisheries and in higher predators at the SAERI stand. Farmers had the opportunity not only to listen to both researchers, but also to have a look at a new SAERI poster highlighting the main activities of the institute and the area of interest, which extends across the South Atlantic.

On Wednesday 9th, a fairly large audience of farmers attended a presentation where each member of staff provided information about their roles in SAERI. Dr Davidson, after a general introduction about the Institute, focussed her attention on the 20 species which may be potential candidates for small scale fisheries and/or aquaculture in the Falklands’ inshore waters. Many farmers showed interested in getting involved in the identification of the species and many went away with a leaflet depicting the species and a small booklet with further pictures and interesting facts. Anyone who missed farmers’ week can always ask Dr Davidson for one of the species identification leaflets. Landowners are the first people who can spot the “creatures” that Dr Davidson is after for her research project and help from everyone is much appreciated. Dr Marengo provided a brief outline of what Geographic Information System (GIS) means and how can be beneficial for farmers and land managers in general. GIS is not only a tool for mapping but also a tool that can analyse geographical data and provide information for making better decisions. Landowners can be extremely helpful in providing data on soil and variation on grassland growth, which could be correlated to other environmental factors. Dr Blockley and Dr Tierney presented their GAP project which aims at filling gaps in the local knowledge of benthic species, oceanography, seafloor environment, and higher predators. These data are extremely valuable and are needed to inform and monitor potential impacts to the environment from offshore hydrocarbon activities which will be operating in the Falklands’ offshore waters.

Farmers’ week was a great occasion to promote what SAERI is doing locally in the Falklands and more in general in the other UK OTs in the South Atlantic. The objective is to consolidate what has been achieved after the first two years, continue to deliver high quality research projects, and above all to build strong collaboration with the local community and landowners, as working in synergy results to be beneficial for everybody in the Falklands.

Talking about more high quality projects, SAERI is welcoming Emily Hancox and Dr Amélie Augé who have started their respective posts as PhD student in shallow benthic and intertidal communities and project manager in Marine Spatial Planning.